Becoming more self sufficient in these uncertain times.

carrollsno1

Been thinking of putting a beast in the freezer this last while and the last few trips to the supermarket (Irish and German) and butcher have kind of convinced me to. Talking to another fella similar age not living at home and hes thinking the same too. I know a few on here have been doing it over the years i was just wondering about a breakdown in the costs involved in doing a "homekill. Ive thought about a doing a cull cow maybe but were steering towards maybe a FR/JE bullock just gone two years at present.

Also is anyone else living more off the land or planning too and if so what are you thinking of doing? I consume a fair bit of honey over the course of the year im thinking of bulk buying at the harvest in the back end of the summer. Were in a unique position at the moment compared to the general population we may as well use it to our advantage.

cjpm

A heifer. Either Hereford or Angus. No more than 24 months old. Some fellas keep a quarter of the cuts and sell the remainder to a few neighbours. There’s a lot of feeding in one.

_Brian

Put a HEX heifer in the freezer last week.

she was 630kg heading up the ramp. €400 to slaughter, butcher and blast freeze. Said he charged a little extra because we wanted more burgers and no more than two steaks in any pack.

Hard Knocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119109579#Comment_119109579

I hope you’re sharing, or got a big freezer

Say my name

Totally different from your feeding angle but on the thread title theme.

I've an idea to buy a flail mower collector and the biggest plastic water tank I can buy.

I haven't been spraying weeds for a good few years now plus I've half had this idea over this time so I've now got good feedstock plus I may shut my father up. 😂

The plan is to flail and collect any sow thistle, nettle or dock patches in fields. And put that in the tank. First I'll have to add a good layer of biochar in the bottom of the tank to work as a filter membrane for the fluid tap in the bottom and starter for anaerobic digestion. I'll add in the chopped weeds above this mixed with molasses and anaerobic microbial solution/water and fill up to half way on the tank. I'll have to airtight fit the cover on the top of the tank with a pipe fitted somewhere on the top of the tank to take the gas off. If I get gas I'll treat it further and hopefully compress it into a gas tank for use either in a cooker or whatever.

I'll be using the juice out the bottom in the sprayer anyways as fert so the gas will be the bonus.

Dinzee Conlee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119109673#Comment_119109673

Lads do something similar (on a small scale) with an IBC - and store the gas in some kinda balloon. When I read about it, I got the impression you don’t get that much gas (enough for a cooker maybe?) But if that’s all you want, sure isn’t it enough too…

Assume you have to feed it all the time, for it to keep generating the gas?

I plan to make some hydrolysate, but just in barrels and not capture the gas. Just for the fertiliser. Be interesting to see how you get on…

On a side note @Say my name , friend of mine did that biochar course in Kildare last week. Said was very good…

_Brian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119109601#Comment_119109601

Between two houses.

_Brian

We’re growing spuds for first time here in maybe 40years.

earlies in the tunnel and a bed of maincrop using no dig mulching technique.

Hard Knocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119110300#Comment_119110300

Same as, have some in a planter box

ABlur

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119110300#Comment_119110300

Would be interested in the no dig method could you give a bit of detail on that? I bought seed potatoes they're still in the bag ☺️

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119109673#Comment_119109673

I was looking at this recently too, although with household waste and lawn clippings.

It would be pretty cool if you could get enough gas to run cooker or even the lawn mower but probably wishful thinking, but I suppose any saving is a saving.

More on topic with the thread, I built a 32ft by 12ft poly tunnel from heavy polypipe during the first lockdown. No where near self sufficient but growing what we can.